This invention relates to reciprocating slat type conveyors, and more particularly to such a conveyor forming a floor of a container of a mobile cargo trailer.
Live floor conveyors using reciprocating slats, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,354,875; 4,144,963 4,727,978; and 5,263,573 have been found to allow feeds and fertilizers to filter through the conveyors and onto the ground while the system is in the operating mode. The filtering of chicken feed, for example, to the ground attracts wild birds which in turn contract disease to flocks of young chickens and other fowl. To prevent this, several attempts have been made heretofore to support the edges of the moving slat members on a horizontal bearing member. These also have been found to allow particulate material to filter past the bearing surfaces to the ground.
Placing a false floor below the moving slat members prevented such feeds from falling to the ground. However, it was found that feeds would accumulate on the false floor to the extent of causing lifting of the moving slats above the bearings and thereby allowing even greater amounts of feeds to accumulate between the false floor and the moving slats, thereby creating an attractive site for maggots and the like. In some cases the moving slat members would be lifted to the extent of preventing the reciprocating floor from functioning as a conveyor.
Connecting the moving slat members to a drive mechanism located below the false floor required large holes to be cut into the floor. The filtering of feeds to the ground is facilitated in this area of the drive mechanism. To overcome this problem, drive systems have been placed at the front of the trailer above the floor and within the cargo area. This arrangement displaced valuable space which would otherwise carry cargo. To minimize the loss of cargo space, the hydraulic portion of the drive has been mounted in front of the trailer, with the cross drive portion of the reciprocating slat system located within the cargo area above the moving slats. This arrangement still took away considerable cargo space.
The reciprocating conveyor of this invention forms the floor of a mobile cargo trailer container and the transverse drive beams of the conveyor slats are located in a space of minimum horizontal and vertical dimension at the front end of the container, and the hydraulic drive mechanism for the drive beams is located outside the front end of the container and in direct alignment with the load supporting slats. The slats are configured to effect loading, transport and unloading of particulate and other fluid type farm produce without loss to the ground.
The principal objective of this invention is to provide a reciprocating slat type conveyor floor for a mobile cargo trailer container for loading, transport and unloading of particulate materials without loss of such materials to the ground during operation of the conveyor.
Another objective of this invention is to provide a reciprocating slat type conveyor of the class described that reduces the amount of space required for the drive mechanism and maximizing the space within the container for cargo.
Still another objective of this invention is the provision of a reciprocating conveyor of the class described in which the hydraulic power drive cylinders are located outside the front end of the cargo container, whereby to increase further the space within the container for cargo.
A further objective of this invention is the provision of a reciprocating conveyor of the class described in which the hydraulic drive cylinders are properly aligned horizontally with the moving slats, whereby to eliminate abnormal wear on the cylinders and minimizing the power requirements for moving the slats.
A still further objective of this invention is to provide the shaped bearings to support the side edges of the reciprocating slat members, whereby to minimize the filtering of particulate material below the slats, and to provide a completely sealed false floor below the moving slat members to completely prevent filtering of particulates to the ground.
Another objective of this invention is to provide a reciprocating conveyor of the class described which utilizes hydraulic circuitry which more efficiently utilizes the available power from the hydraulic power source.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment.